Telephone meter system.



r G. DEAKIN'. TELEPHONE METER SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 10, 19(;i.

990,638. Patented A r.25,191 '1.

INVENTOR; mTNEssEs: 6 Dean) BY wmmw ATTYS.

UNITED STATES Panama. oFFron;

GERALD DEAKIN, 0F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO MOMEEN 86MILLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. COIARTNERSHIP.

TELEPHONE METER SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 25,1911.

Application filed September 10, 1908. Serial No. 452,473.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GERALD DEAKIN, a cit zen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Oakland, county of Alameda, and State ofCalifornia, have invented a' new and useful Improvement in TelephoneMeter Systems, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

My invention pertains to systems for the automatic operation of centraloffice connec-' tion counters in a telephone exchange My inventionpertains to the systemsand circuits rather than to any type of metermechanism or to any specific apparatus in which my system and circuitsmay be embodied, except in so far as I may modify existing circuits orapparatus for adapt-ation to my system.

I provide a system in which an electrically controlled counting deviceor meter is associated with a subscribers line, and is adapted by thecircuits and inechanismsof the central ofiice to record one additionalunit upon its counting train, upon the first answering of va called linein response to a call origmating upon the subscribers line pertaining tothe meter. I provide, further, means whereby lines for terminating callsare divided into two classes, the first class of which controls themeter of the calling line to record a unit upon the meter when firstanswering a call, and the second class of which does not control themeter to operate.

In an automatic telephone central equipment of any of the types nowwidely used, a line entering the office branches into two paths, one ofwhich passes to themultiple terminals of the connectors and carries allcalls in which'that line is the called line and the second of whichextends toward the selectors and remains idle or is disconnected duringthe continuance of calls terminating upon the line, but carries theoperating circuits of the line for all calls originating upon the line,the extension to the connector multiple remaining unused in such calls.

- In my improved system of meter operation, I install a meteror a metercontrolling ,relay in the call-forwarding branch of the 'fsubscribersline, thus placing it in a posivtion where 1t is inactive upon anyconnection in which the call-receiving branch of the line is used, Inthe selectors or connectors I provide relays and circuits whereby theanswering of a called line will increase the current upon the callingline; I adjust the -meter or its controlling relay so as not to operateon the predetermined current value existing before the answering of the"called line and so as .to operate upon the predetermined larger currentvalue existing after the answering of the called line. I provide uponthe operating parts of the meter two electrical contacts operatedsuccessively and having the following functions: The contact firstoperated closes a locking circuit which holds the meter inert in itsoperated condition and not susceptible to further control by its lineduring the continuance of the then existing connection. The contactsecond operated removes the meter electrically from the line, leavingthe line circuits clear and not modified or unbalanced dur ing theconversation by reason of the presence of the meter in association withthe line; To provide forunlocking the meter at the termination of theconnection, that it may return to proper condition preparatory torecordin upon an ensuing connection,

I take the locking circuit through an electrical cont-act controlled bysome unit of mechanism whose condition is changed incidentally tosetting up the connection and which remains in its changed conditionthroughout the continuance of the connection; by the return to normalcondition of idleness of this unit of apparatus, the locking circuit isinterrupted and the meter is restored. The apparatus unit selected wouldbe the first automatic switch involved in the connection, and if thatswitch be individual to the meters line, the meters locking circuit maytake a contact upon any relay armature or other moving part fulfillingthe required conditions. For controlling the current values upon themeters line, I provide a relay in circuit with the called line havingcontacts upon its armatures to control the circuit of the calling line.To provide for the completion of connections with predetermined. lineswithout involving the operation of the meter, I polarize the meter orits controllin relay and provide connecting units furnis ing to thecallin line current having a direction reverse as compared with thedirection of the usual ourrent intended to operate the meter. Thus, 1,to extend the limbs of the calling line.

connectors selecting lines of the free class nary shall have thereversed battery connections, and connections selecting lines of theordiclass shall have the direct battery connection adapted to operatethe meter.

. In the regular operation of a telephone system in which the'basis ofcharge to the subscriber for service is the number of calls he shallmake me given time, it is necessary to provide means whereby he will notbecharged for certain calls, such as those in which he asks forinformation from the central olfice, those in which he makes a 15.

request for long distance service, and those in which he maywishtoreport telephone troubles. It is. desirable, if possible, to arrange thecall recording system so that these free calls will not be recorded inthe meter. I accomplish this by polarizing the meter or its controllingrelay, and by arranging that all such lines as shall receive free calls,shall be reached through special connecting units, which furnish to thecalling line,

upon the response of the called subscriber,

current having adirection reversed as comparedwit-h its direction in thecalling line on a call which is to be recorded. Thus,

connectors having access to lines of the" free class may have thereversed battery connections, and connectors having access to llnes ofthe ordinary class, may'have the rent'is furnished to the calling line,so as substation to be called by not to operate the meter upon theresponse of a called station to which calls are'to befree.

Referring now to Fig. 1, 2 is a substation which may institute a call byremoving the receiver from" the hook and so bridging the telephone setupon the line. 3-is a similar substation 2. Both are of a type ofautomatic telephone apparatus now 111 common use, as also is' true ofthe remainder of the connecting units which I show and describe inconnection -with my invention herein. Upon the rising of the switch-hookat substation 2, current from the battery B or other source of centralofiice current, flows through the trip-magnet 4, the limbs of theline,'the closed telephone circuit at 2, and again to the battery B. Thetrip-magnet 4 being energized, closes allof the contacts shownrespectively as 5,

I 5 5 and 5 These contacts are those in common use'in individualswitches of automatic telephone systems, and is their. regular officein-such'systems, as it is in Fig. i I

toward some idle connecting unit. Any of the usual methods wherebytheindividual switch containing the trip-magnet 4, selects and con nectswith the line to an idle connecting unit containing a branched relay,such as 6, are satisfactory arrangements for the operation of mydevice.- For the sake 1 of'clea'rness, I have omitted from thetripmagnet 4, the means by which the contacts 5 to 5 are closed. I showin connection with the trip-magnet, however, the armature and contact 7Whenever the trip-magnet 4 is energized, the contact at 7 is closed andso places ground upon the wire 8. No apparatus operates as a result ofgrounding the conductor 8 until a cooperating action shall take place.

The relay 9 is of similar character to the relay 6, both being, ingeneral, the two relays customarily provided in a connector of anautomatic telephone exchange, the regular office of such a connectorbeing to find and connect with a called line in the multiple of lines towhich the connec or has access. The relays. 6 and 9 respectively furnishcurrent for conversation -to the substations 2 and 3.- ,Thes'e relays,as current supply bridges, are counterparts of current supply bridges inmanual switchboard connecting cords, and the condensers 10 and 11similarly interrupt theconnecting circuit, so that direct current fromthe relay 6 may not pass to the substation 3, and vice versa. Further,the relay 6 is that which is known in ordinary automatic practice as thefront bridging relay of the connector, and the relay 9 is that known asthe back bridging relay of theconnector. The relay 9 may be of whateverresistance the ordinary features of the particular system require. Therelay 6, however, requires to have its windings specially related to mydevice, and a suggested arrangement of windings, and one .which I findsatisfactory in practice, is to have the windings a bf 250 ohms each,and the windings b of 2000 ohms each.

- 12 is a polarized relay, for which I find a resistance of 50 ohms tobe satisfactory. I have indicated by an arrow below the relay 12, thedirection in which its armature tends to move whenever current from therelay 6 passes through the limbs of the line and the substation 2; but Iarrange the adjustment of the relay 12 and'the voltage of the commonbattery B such that, unless the contacts 13 and 18 of the relay 9 areclosed, not enough current can flow through the relay 12 to operate it;This is for the reason of the high. resistance of the windin b, but ifthese are placed in shunt with t e windings a a much larger current willflow -throug .the relay 12, and itwill operate,

with the results yet. to ,be described.

14 is a service rneter consisting of an elecwheels.- This train may beof any of the well-known types, arranged in a ratio of tento-one, so asto count the successive conversa- 1 individual. automatic switches.

pulses caused by the breaking of contact 19- tions and show the totalcount on the several wheels. Connected as shown in Fig. 1, the meter 14will operate, if the relay 12 shall close its contact at 16 while thecontact at 7 also is closed. This will result because of the winding 0of meter 14 receiving current. The contact 17 will close as a firstconsequence of the movement of the armature of the meter. Thereafter,the contact at 18 will be closed, and, as a final result, the wheel 15will be turned far enough to complete the registry of one unit on themeter train. But the closing of the contact 17 furnishes current throughthe winding cl and the contact 7, and the closing of the contact 18shortcircuits the relay 12. This, in turn, permits the breaking ofcontact 16, but the meter still remains energized,being locked throughthe contact 17 until the contact 7 shall break. For the windings c andd, I have found the resistance of 200 ohms and 3000 ohms respectively tobe satisfactory. {In the act of making. a call, therefore, thesylbscriber at substation 2 closes his line at the switchhook, and bymeans of the usual dial, interrupts the line in series of impulses at19. The closing of the line operates the tripmagnet 4, grounds theconductor 8 at 7, and closes all the contacts 5, 5 5 and 5*. Relay 20now is energized by current from battery B through itself to ground at 5Trip-magnet 4- thus is cut off from the line, but as it has operated totrip or release mechanism to close contacts 5 to. 5 which contactsremain closed till released by the release magnet 22, so also it holdscontact 7 closed, as is, usual in contacts associated with such trippingof The imat the substation, now operate relay' 6 of the connector, andby mechanism wh ch I do not show, but which is well known in the art,the connector responds to such impulses by moving its line wipers tofind the called line. When the called line has been rung upon in theusual way and the subscriber responds at substation 3, relay 9 isenergized. The closing of contacts 13 and 13 places the windings a -inshunt with the windings b in relay 6, and, as a consequence of thisshunting, an increased volume or current flows to substation-2 throughthe relay 12. Relay 12 closes contact 16. Meter 14 operates, closingcontacts 17 and 18 in the order mentioned, and counting one on the metertrain. The

meter locks, as described, and the relay 12 is short-circuited, leavingthe limbs'of the l1ne again balanced in resistance. The .conversatlonhaving been finished, the hanging up of the receiver at substation 2opens the line, releasing relay 6 of the connector. In the usual way,through contacts not shown in Fig. 1, the connector releases andreturnsto its normal position. In so doing, a ground is placed on conductor 21,energizing release magnet 22. This magnet is the usual one of individualswitches in standard automatic systems, and its office is to restore theindividual switch to normal condition, opening the contacts 5 to 5 andcontact 7. As 7 opens, meter 14 is no longer energized by either of itswindingsand so releases, restoring itself to condition to record on asucceeding. call.

The conductors f and g are a metallic circuit branch of the line leadingto connector contacts, and it is over them that terminating calls aremade to substation 2. The conductor it will be grounded by such aterminating call, and so will operate the relay 20, thus removing thetripmagnet 4 and the ground at B from the line while sucha terminatingcall is in progress. As the trip-magnet cannot operate while relay 20 isenergized, no terminating call for substation 2 can operate the meter14;

In Fig. 2, I show a connector in which the relation of battery B to therelay 6 is reversed. It is such a connector as would contain lines forwhose terminating calls no charge is to be made on the meter of thecalling line. The relay 6 of such a connector will give current to thecalling line in a direction tending to operate the armature of the relay12 opposite to the direction of the arrow, or, in other words, in thedirection of the natural tendency of the armature when at rest. Thecontact 16,} therefore, cannot be closed whether the'relay 9 be openedornot,'so that, lacking the coiiperation of the contact 16, the contact7, though closed, can not record a call.

Having thus described my invent-ion, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. In a meter system, a line having two central oflice branches; ameter-controlling winding included serially in one of said branches;automatic means for connectlng the line through said branch and saidmeter winding when forwarding a call originating upon the line; andmeans for increaslng the current upon the line and through sa d meterwinding to an operative value for'sald meter, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a meter system, a line having two metallic circuit branches at thecentral, office;

a meter-controlling winding included serially in one of said branches;means for congem-rent. value u'piin'the lineand through said I meterwinding; and a called line and substa- 1 tion, said means for varyingthe current value through-the meter-controlling coil being controlled bythe substation apparatus of said called line, substantially asdescribed. 3. In a meter system, a meter having a controlling coilserially .in the telephone line; a locking circuit for said meter andhaving a contact controlled by said meter;

and another contact upon said meter short -c1r'cuiting said-linewinding, substantially as described.

. 4. In 'ameter system, a meter having a polarized controlling coilserially in the telephen' ef line;a locking circuit for said meter a ndhaving a contact controlled by said meter and another contact upon saidmeter and/ short circuitingsaid polarized line winding, substantially asdescribed.

5'. In a meter system, a telephone line; an

' *jautomatic selecting switch for connecting 5 in loe ing circuit for.said meter and having a Said lineto 'ot-hers,-a meter having acontrolcoil serially in the telephone line; a

contact controlled by said meter; and means fcr' interrupting saidlocking circuit, said ni'eans. being rendered operatlvelby thedisconnection of the selecting switch, substantially as described.

'called line; an automatic switch for connectingthem; a meter coil insaid calling line; means for passing-through said coil currentinsufficient to operate said meter; and a relay controlled by. saidcalled line and adapted toincrease the current in said calling line tooperate said meter, substantially as described.

Signed by me at San Francisco, county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, in

the presence of two witnesses.

GERALD DEAKIN.

Witnesses:

J OHN D. GIsH, H. B. CUTTING.

